Homeless, Industry, And Lofts Converge in Central City East

The Central City East Association is one of a number of business improvements districts and advocates for business in Los Angeles. What is its niche and purpose?

The organization formed in 1985 for a reason that is, strangely enough, very much in the news today. At that time the policy of the city was to locate social services for homeless and transients in this 50-block area-it was actually called the "containment policy." In response, the stakeholders -many of whom still own property and operate businesses here-rose up and, prophetically, I think, said that that was bad public policy, not just bad land use policy, but bad public policy. The Toy and Downtown Industrial Business Improvement Districts were created in 1999; the latter contains many of the seafood processing and cold storage businesses. The association formed in 1985, and the BIDs were formed in 1999, and now CCEA manages both of those BIDs. We are now working to form the Arts BID in the area east of Alameda, which we hope will start in 2007.

In the March TPR, LAEDC's Jack Kyser explained how the Los Angeles region is losing industrial land, often to residential units. Elaborate on the challenges of maintaining your area's industrial character while recognizing the growing pressure for new housing units?

Residential is one of the uses encroaching on industrial land, but the largest takers of industrial land are the LAUSD and other institutional uses that have sought cheap land. For this area, the question is not so much how to retain its industrial base, because the industrial base in this area has been eroding long before residential became an issue.

Rather, industry is not using land the same way it did decades ago. This area has long been abandoned by the city in terms of the infrastructure improvements that would have been required to retain industrial use here. I often ask when was the last time a street was repaved east of Alameda? Where are the left turn lanes that would enable truck traffic to use the arterials in Central City East?

And certainly the public safety problems persist. People are wary of establishing their company and bringing their workforce down to an area that is so visibly challenged by law enforcement problems. So we have been losing the industrial uses in this area for decades.

That which remains persists because it is thriving. It remains because it offers jobs that are filled by people who find it convenient to work Downtown. It thrives because members of CCEA have been able to invest in their properties here, and those that have been able to, such as American Fish, have even expanded. But even our own members are starting to feel the constraints of the marketplace.

Many industrial businesses here are mainly back-office businesses. In many instances, the manufacturing, processing, warehousing, shipping, and operations have been consolidated or they have moved to places where it is more suitable, for a variety of reasons, for companies to relocate, to the Inland Empire, to other states, and even other countries.

Another issue is that the parcel sizes in this area are very small. To attract a significant industrial base to return here you would have to do something that is nearly impossible and that is to assemble enough parcels to make it work for industrial use. Industrial use is no longer vertical; it's horizontal.

So with changing needs obvious, the members of CCEA's board have for a couple of years now been discussing the future of this area. They're looking at it as a mixed use community, where what is industrial and thriving remains and is supported by infrastructure improvements and law enforcement resources, and then re those buildings or parcels that are under-utilized or abandoned, to find the highest and best use for them. And for the majority of those, the best uses are clearly residential.

Is coexistence among industry, the homeless, and loft dwellers possible, especially as pressure for housing increases?

It's not going to be easy, but it is possible. It's not going to be easy because industrial businesses often begin operations early in the morning, and they produce truck traffic, odors, and a lot of the things that you would not necessarily think would be attractive in a residential community. But many of the folks moving into the areas east of Alameda want an edgier lifestyle.

If they want to be cased in glass and hermetically sealed in a tower, those options abound for them throughout Downtown. It's the same with the folks who move into the Old Bank District-a certain caliber of person thrives and wants to be in an edgier area. Also, Central City East and the area of east of Alameda have been home for many people for decades, most of them artists, who also work different hours and who also need M zoning so that they can do things like welding or firing pottery for their art.

Some arrangements need to be discussed and worked out. If enough people want to move into the area, they need to be informed about what it means to live in an industrial area. I was told that on the last Downtown open house hosted by the Central City Association, many of the people that were taking the tours were asking, "where are the real lofts and where is the arts district?" So there is a hunger and a passion for an area that looks different and marches to the beat of a different drum, and that certainly is the area east of Alameda.

How does Central City East's agenda overlap with the new general managers in L.A., including Planning Director Gail Goldberg, DOT General Manager Gloria Jeff, and CRA CEO Cecilia Estolano. If you were writing an open letter to each, what policies would you hope to influence?

We would convey that this area, Central City East, has been neglected by the City for decades. It is still a powerful economic engine for the city, but it has received none of the benefits commensurate with the talk you hear from people at City Hall about how important this area is and jobs that it's businesses provide.

I've already had an opportunity to speak with Gail Goldberg, and I've known and admired Cecilia Estolano for quite a few years. I've not yet met Gloria Jeff, but I certainly would ask each of them about how Central City East fits in with all the development and energy and excitement that people have about the rest of Downtown.

There seems to be a line at Los Angeles Street, east of which the problems seem more intractable. Whether it's infrastructure, homelessness, or law enforcement, people just generally allow things to happen east of Los Angeles Street that would not be allowed anywhere else. One of the things that would benefit both industrial and residential, would be to look at the area and decide that pallet yards, tire yards, gentlemen's clubs, and recyclers, which are a by-right use in this area because of M3 zoning, aren't good for either residential or industrial uses. This area, because of its zoning, has taken on things that other parts of this city and other cities don't want.

Central City East is not about just the coexistence of residential and industrial uses; it also involves the challenge of providing homeless services. How does CCEA help providers meet that challenge?

We are working very closely with the social service providers in the area, the Midnight Mission, the Union Rescue Mission-many of the places that are down here doing God's work. They, in turn, have come to the table, and for the first time I think in anyone's memory the three important partners-law enforcement, social service providers, and the business community-are moving in the same direction.

Regardless of the work of the social service providers, it is difficult to witness the chaos that occurs on the sidewalks every day. It's romantic to look at those sidewalks and believe that everyone can be helped by the services we are providing through the millions of dollars of subsidized housing and services that are already in this area. Some of the folks on the street, yes, have fallen through life's cracks and need help. But you also have the chronically homeless, the truly mentally ill, and the horribly drug-addicted. This population down here is complex, and it includes a huge service-resistant population.

I encounter folks on CCEA's monthly Skid Row walks and ask people if I can offer them a warm place to sleep that night, and I am routinely rejected. I am not an expert on homelessness or on providing social services, but I do know that every day, both criminal predators and service-resistant people living on the street threaten the health and the safety of everyone in this community, whether it's the business people that I represent, or the employees who work here, many of whom are the working poor of Los Angeles who depend on jobs here for their own livelihoods. The criminal predators are also a threat to the health and safety of the people who are truly mentally and physically ill, homeless on the street.

I really don't know what we are going to do about that, especially in light of the recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It's nearly impossible to understand what is happening in Skid Row as I do because my office is here and I am out there every single day to see what's happening: to see people die, to see people spend decades out on the street, withering away, and to see that we've allowed this within the shadow of City Hall.

It's a big huge, ugly, messy problem and no one has been able to or had the political will to want to put their arms around it. Chief Bratton and his consultant, Rutgers University Professor George Kelling, have done similar work in New York and understand the complexity of the problem, but right now they lack the resources. The business community, law enforcement, and the social service providers are all trying to do the best that they can, knowing that they are outnumbered and without laws to compel someone to get off the street.

Two of Central City East Association's landmark accomplishments are the Toy and the Industrial BIDs, created almost eight years ago. How have those districts fared?

As challenging as the situation is out here, imagine what it would be without the private sector investment of nearly $2 million a year provided by those BIDs combined. The Toy District attracts people from throughout the region who are looking for specialty items, and not just toys. The Toy District sells general merchandise, party supplies, and kitchenware. The Industrial District still provides thousands of jobs for people in this community and in this city. It is a major area for food distribution, for some of the most upscale restaurants and hotels in Los Angeles and beyond. Specifically, we have major wholesale clusters of seafood, produce, cold storage, flowers and fashion. It is centrally located. This area is holding on despite these enormous challenges.

The city does not have enough police; we supplement with our 24/7 security. We pick up five tons of garbage off the streets within our boundaries every single day. Where would that be if the BIDs were not here? What would the health problems in this area be if the BIDs were not here? We even provide a service that we rarely talk about-it is not part of our mandate-but several years ago this association decided to give homeless people space in an unused warehouse owned by Richard Meruelo, one of our board members, to store their belongings in a safe, secure location. They can leave them there for a week and can renew the space weekly for up to 90 days.

These are people who are homeless, unsheltered, and have no other place to leave whatever possessions they have. Their possessions may not seem like much to you and me, but that's all they have. Just last year we won an award for this facility from the League of California Cities, and other cities throughout the state and country are considering similar programs.